Rita, unable to understand his words, purred at his touch. Sil wrapped an arm around her waist. “She said she understood how this place works. She insisted she could bring you in without drawing the attention of the authorities here, and so we allowed her to try. So many plans she suggested, and because she claimed to know you, I listened to her. Until I realized she was lost in this brain, in scattered and broken old memories, and she doesn’t know you at all. Tonight she was dispatched with final orders to bring you in, and she failed again. Instead, she brought me that skinny little thing, thinking that would satisfy me. It turns out Rita is mostly useless to me.” He pressed himself against her from behind. “Mostly.”

My cheeks burned as I watched, wishing my phone would buzz with a text, letting me know they had Tegan, that she was safe, that I could attack and then get myself out of here. But it lay silent in my pocket. “Sorry to hear that she hasn’t lived up to your expectations,” I said. “She never lived up to mine, either.”

He chuckled. “So hostile, girl with the hair. Is that where all your anger comes from? Did this woman hurt you?” He fisted her hair and gave her a shake, drawing a little cry of protest from her.

“She never hurt me. She just … left me. A long time ago. I barely remember her.” Let her go. I don’t like the look in her eyes.

“Your memories are in there somewhere. But I bet you wish they weren’t,” Sil said.

“Sometimes,” I admitted.

“I’ll give you new memories. You’ll thank me. You’ll be with her again. Don’t you want another chance?” He leaned forward eagerly. “Your bodies can be together here, and your souls can be together in the Mazikin realm. It’s perfect!”

“Your idea of perfect is vastly different from mine.”

He frowned and tilted his head. “You, a discarded girl, don’t wish to be our Queen?” His expression hardened. “You’re ungrateful.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I clenched my jaw. “Oh, I’m grateful.” I took a step forward.

“Me too,” he said. And then he drew a knife from his waist and slit my mother’s throat.

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FOUR

HER AMBER-BROWN EYES CAUGHT the candlelight and flickered, allowing me to witness the moment life left her body. Blood flowed down the front of her shirt. Sil abruptly let her go, and she crumpled to the floor. He wiped the knife on his pant leg.

“Wouldn’t want her trying to help you at the worst moment,” he muttered, nudging her body with his toe.

Somewhere below us came a chorus of animal howling followed by a muffled explosion. In the far corner of the room, part of the dance floor caved in, crashing downward.